1. Introduce yourself and the school you are representing
Introduction to the topic: brief presentation about the Mildura Region School Breakfast Partnership: what it is, who is involved, why we need it, what it has led to, and where to from here
Mildura Region School Breakfast Partnership An opportunity for every child in our region to have a nutritious start to the day

2. What is the Mildura Region School Breakfast Partnership?
Coordinated and collaborative approach to breakfast programs in the region
Schools contribute to, and jointly share from, a central pool of funds
Sharing information, ideas and insights
Eliminates the competition for funds
Fosters a truly collaborative approach
All schools have the same opportunity to host a breakfast program – whether they are large or small schools
Provides practical, locally relevant advice to support the implementation of breakfast programs in schools
Encourages the whole of the community to support the partnership

3. Why do we need the Mildura Region School Breakfast Partnership?
Through extensive consultation with schools, Healthy Together Mildura found the following:
Principals identified that children attending school without having eaten breakfast was a barrier to student health and wellbeing as well as positive learning outcomes
Several schools had identified regular student absenteeism was often linked with a family’s inability to send food to school with a child.
Several schools in the region had attempted school breakfast programs in the past or were running small scale breakfast programs, but these programs we viewed by schools as unsustainable and were a drain on school’s limited funds.
Other schools identified a need for a breakfast program but didn’t have the finances or capacity to establish a program.
“For some of our students this might be the only healthy or 'proper' meal for the day”. – School Breakfast Program Coordinator

4. Who are the partners? Participating Schools
From initial pilot launched 2013
St Paul’s Primary School
Ranfurly Primary School
Red Cliffs East Primary School
Red Cliffs Secondary College
Chaffey Secondary College
Mildura Senior College
St Joseph’s College
Dareton Public School (NSW)
Joined 2014
The Lake Primary School
Joined 2015
Mildura West Primary School
Starting in 2016
Mildura Specialist School
As you can see, both primary and secondary schools are involved in the partnership. The partnership has continued to grow over the last three years.

5. Who are the partners? TASCO Petroleum Thrive Fitness & Wellbeing
Healthy Together Mildura acts as the partnership coordinators – they manage the funding pool, coordinate bi-annual meetings and ensure the schools are supported to deliver a breakfast program that suits the needs of the school.
Foodbank Australia are a national food rescue and re-distribution organisation – they supply low cost supplies to the schools engaged in the program
The schools deliver the actual breakfast program in a way that suits the school – the programs run differently in each school, some schools run a 5 day program, so schools only run their breakfast program once per week. Each school is expected to contribute to the common funding pool – it doesn’t matter how much or how little, we all work together to ensure we have ongoing funds to keep the model going.
Our donors – the people and organisations that make the breakfast partnership possible
TASCO Petroleum
Thrive Fitness & Wellbeing

6. After 3 years this is what we know…
The Partnership supports a variety of school breakfast programs across the region which:
Contribute to improved general health, nutrition, hygiene and wellbeing of students
Contribute to student and parent engagement
Provides access to fresh fruit, which schools identified as an essential component to promote healthy eating
Fosters collaboration and emphasises local support and community ownership, which are key components to ongoing success
Attract significant local interest and media attention

7. Health Benefits
The Partnership schools perceived their breakfast programs contributed positively to:
Students' awareness of healthy eating
Student food selection and food preparation skills
Student eating behaviours
Students' physical health
Students' mental health
Students' hygiene
The health promoting environment of the school
Principals, Breakfast Program Coordinators, teachers and parents reported that having a breakfast program in their school promoted healthy messages giving students the opportunity to make the link between a healthy breakfast and a positive start to the day.
“Eating healthy is something that expands past breakfast, and all the way home”. – Student

8. Social Connectedness and Interaction
To reduce stigmatisation, the Mildura Regional Breakfast Partnership guidelines state that schools must open their breakfast program to all students. As a result, breakfast at school has become a chance for students to interact socially with their peers, teachers and parents in a communal environment whilst sharing a healthy meal.
The Partnership schools perceived their breakfast programs contributed positively to:
Students' sense of community and belonging
Students' interaction across all year levels
Relationships between students and school staff
Relationships between students and community members
Students’ sense of self- worth
Re-engagement with disengaged students
Peer role modelling
Parental engagement
“It also provided social opportunities and broke down isolation for some students”. – School Principal

9. Learning Environment and Outcomes
The Partnership schools perceived their breakfast programs contributed positively to student:
Punctuality
Attendance
Behaviour
Academic outcomes
Concentration
Social skills
Engagement with class activities
All Principals and Breakfast Program Coordinators surveyed agreed that their school breakfast program has led to improvements in student concentration and learning outcomes.
The student survey indicated that students also felt their concentration levels and learning in class had improved since they began attending the breakfast program at their school.
“Quite a few of our students do not have breakfast at home for a number of reasons, and have commented that they are not as tired as they were before, now that they are having breakfast at school.” – Teacher

10. Why has the Partnership model worked?
60% of Principals surveyed said that their school would not have established or continued their breakfast program if the opportunity to participate in the Mildura Region School Breakfast Partnership model had not arisen.
The partnership has been successful due to its collaborative nature
Sharing responsibility between Healthy Together Mildura, Schools and Foodbank Victoria
Perhaps most importantly, it has alleviated the financial burden of running a school breakfast program

11. Where to from here?
Demand on available resources has increased over the last three years as the average number of breakfasts served each term grows. The average cost per term to keep the Partnership running is $2,600.
4 local kindergartens are also now sourcing fruit through the Partnership. This demonstrates a possible unmet need in this area which requires further exploration.
The average number of breakfasts served each term has continually increased as new schools join the partnership. (2014)

12. The Mildura Region School Breakfast Partnership aims to provide every child in our region with a nutritious start to the day. Breakfast programs support learning outcomes, health and wellbeing and social interaction. The whole region needs to continue to collaborate, and to work together to support our children now and into the future.